BBC says Brazil’s presidential election is heading to a 25 October run-off

Senator Flávio Bolsonaro led Brazil’s presidential vote count in figures reported by Reuters on 4 October, with 50.41% of valid votes against 41.44% for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Reuters attributed the figures to Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE). They covered 41.57% of polling sections, not 41.57% of votes cast. [1]

Reuters cautioned that counting was further advanced in some states where Bolsonaro led than in states where Lula was ahead. An undated display on the same UOL page showed different figures — 48.08% for Bolsonaro and 43.93% for Lula — but gave no readable tally time or measure of how much had been counted. Its relationship to the figures in the Reuters report is unclear. [1]

A candidate needed more than 50% of valid votes to win on 4 October, Reuters reported. The partial count did not establish whether either candidate would reach that threshold in the final result. [1]

Update

Millions of Brazilians voted in Sunday’s first round, BBC News reports. It says the presidential election is now heading to a run-off on 25 October, but gives no first-round vote totals or shares. [3]